Linguistic and conceptual transfer : crosslinguistic translanguaging in the English-French bilingual mathematics classroom in the UK

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study, conducted as part of a PhD thesis, exploring ways in which translanguaging can be used to support the development of conceptual understanding of division. The study focused on 18 8-9-year-old pupils learning mathematics through the instructional languages of English and French in an ‘immersion-style’ bilingual education context in England. The data was collected from four consecutive mathematics lessons focusing on division, the first two taught through English by a monolingual English teacher and the second two taught in French by a bilingual French teacher. Both teachers were interviewed directly following their second lesson and the pupils participated in two focus groups, following their lessons in English and then French. This paper focuses on three of the seven translanguaging cycles that were identified as part of the analysis, each with a different combination of interlocutors. The first extract presents a peer-peer discussion of division involving exchange, the second involves a teaching assistant scaffolding learning for a new-to-French pupil and the third illustrates a pupil seeking clarification from the teacher. The findings reveal that crosslinguistic translanguaging affords a flexible space in which pupils are able to draw upon their linguistic repertoires to make linguistic and conceptual connections. The use of multiple representations and reprocessing opportunities further supported crosslinguistic transfer within these translanguaging cycles